What can I say? I'm a self-taught, otherly-employed, emerging writer looking to make my own special little mark in Canadian TV. What are my chances? Realistically, it's not pretty -- luckily, I have a plan.

Wednesday, June 06, 2012

#DenounceHarper

I am a Canadian citizen, a patriot and, largely, a quiet,
peace-loving nobody.

I’m happily married and the father of a healthy, happy young
boy.

I have not known war.

No one in my family has gone off to fight and die in the
military – or come back a hero.

Heck, I’ve barely even seen the world.

Basically, I am the least qualified person on the planet to
be standing here, on one of the most hallowed days in our history, protesting against
Stephen Harper and the Harper Government.

Well, except for one thing:

I’m Canadian.

I am proudly
Canadian.

… But I am not a brave man.

I sit here at my little keyboard and I type words on the internet.

I don’t dodge bullets, I don’t have ‘the right stuff’. For all of the anger and frustration and fear
that I feel… this is all I have. My
words.

I love and respect the hell out of those who would do what I
can not.

So why couldn’t I keep my goddamned mouth shut for one more
day? Until the flags have risen once
more and the wreaths are covered in morning dew?

Why did it have to be this day?

Believe it or not: Respect for the dead.

I cannot stand silent any longer. I cannot watch our government
place a wreath in honour of these dead men whilst our Prime Minister undoes all
that they - and all of our soldiers - have fought to protect:

We’re expected to sit down and shut up and just take what
we’re given.

If we stand we are knocked down and damn you for trying.

You had your say when you voted, if you wanted it any other
way, then tough luck.

But did we vote for this, really?

Is this the platform
that our government ran on?

Did they tell us that “We will ignore you and do whatever we
want”?

Did they tell us that they will shut us out and hide our government ‘in
camera’?

Did they tell us that they will force their will upon us no
matter what we say?

I was too young to care about those who came before Harper –
Chrétien and the Liberal corruption were all before I knew or cared much at all
about politics.

But I know what I see before me now.

And, through reading, I’ve come to know about the
sponsorship scandal and the corruption in the previous Liberal government.

But here’s the thing: If you fought so hard against them – if you
brought them down by promising transparency and accountability and good, honest
government.

Shouldn’t you know
better?

If you felled the Liberals over their corruption, doesn’t it
stand that travelling down that very same road makes you even worse than
them? You knew better, you promised us
MORE, then took the exact same path and made it worse.

How DARE WE ask these brave souls to fight and die on our
behalf while we allow this corruption to run rampant before our very eyes?

I know I’m going to pay for this.

For speaking up, for giving a damn and for daring to do it
on a day when we should be mourning our dead and honouring their sacrifice.

I don’t care. The way
I see it, I am honouring their sacrifice.
Right here, right now.

Our Prime Minister is an employee of the Canadian
people. He was not voted in with
sweeping powers to pave over Canada
and remake it in his image.

He was voted in to serve US.

Public SERVICE. For
All of us.

Stephen Harper has forgotten his place.

And while we cannot ‘recall’ him – heck, our Constitution
barely even recognizes his existence, let alone the beginning and ending of his
powers – we sure can strip him of his moral authority to govern us.

It’s a funny thing, ‘moral authority’. Politicians talk about it all the time
‘you’ve lost the moral authority to govern’.
But what does that mean, really?

Normally ‘moral authority’ is just rhetoric. It’s just politicians yelling across the
aisles. But what if it were true? What if 10,000 or 20,000 Canadians stood up
and said ‘You do not represent me or my Canada’? What if we took away his ability to even
remotely say that he is doing our will, doing what we would want?

Now, I know 20,000 doesn’t seem like much, but did you know
that Stephen Harper won his ‘Majority’ by
only 16, 568 votes?

Election Fraud or otherwise, that is NOT a ‘Majority’ of
Canadians. I don’t care which way you
try to slice it.

I’d like to introduce you to another word:

Denounce:
Publicly declare to be wrong or evil.

Now I won’t go as far as to say that our Prime Minister is
‘evil’. He’s certainly no Hitler, as
some would suggest. No, we can see evil
– true evil – by turning on the News.

But is he ‘Wrong’? Oh
yes; This man who seems more at home imagining himself as a ‘President’ or an
Autocrat.

He is wrong for Canada and he is wrong for Canadians.

And so here I am, on this little blog of mine in the middle
of nowhere, taking a stand.

Stephen Harper does not speak for me. His lies and deceit, his maltreatment of
Veterans and the First Nations and the Canadian people are not reflective of
MY Canada.

They sure as hell are not reflective of the Canada these
brave men fought and died to protect.

To preserve, for us all.

Not the Left or the Right or the rich or the
well-connected. All.

And so, today, on this most precious day, I hereby formally #DenounceHarper.

And I invite you to do so as well.

Perhaps, together, we can inspire 16,568 Canadians to step forward, join us on this Facebook page and Denounce Harper - to strip Stephen Harper of his Moral Authority to govern us.

To get the Transparent, Accountable government that we were promised.

I invite you all to non-violently share your stories with me
and the world. I want to hear about your
hardships and struggles under this secretive, corrupt government. I want to hear the real effects of how his
policies, his cuts and more have impacted your life.

If I am not alone here, if you feel what I feel, then
please, take a moment go
to this page and share your story with us all.

And then, if after that you still feel what I feel, then I ask you to stand with me on July 1st of this year.

As we stand together on the birthday of our nation and,
together, non-violently Denounce Harper.

July 1st is #DenouncementDay

With love, kindness and hope, I remain:

Brandon Laraby

A Proud Canadian Citizen

If you're on Twitter and feel as I do, please take this image as your Profile photo.

By the looks of the expression on the faces of the CPC backbenchers yesterday during Del Mastro responses to election spending yesterday this house of cards may be falling. Their tepid applause to his response sure said it all.

Thank you, this was very well said and expressed many of my own thoughts. I'm proud to meet another patriotic Canadian. Harper is NOT Canada, nor dose he stand up to Canadian ideals. Good luck with your efforts.

About Me

'404' - is LIVE!

Two years after the US Government threw 'The Switch' and plunged the country into a neo-Dark Age, Marco Temura - a recovering internet addict and cub TV reporter - will uncover the truth behind the cyber attack that brought America to its knees.